By Nwosa Hamilton
- Compliance Level Far From Being Satisfactory-PTF
As President Muhammadu Buhari addresses Nigerians two weeks after the country commenced the first phase of the gradual easing of the COVID-19 lockdown, mixed signals are emanating from the presidency.
Sani Aliyu, the national coordinator of the presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19 while speaking on a Channels Television’s Sunday Politics program monitored by The New Diplomat left many Nigerians wondering as to what to expect from the address.
“I cannot say categorically what we should be expecting, we have to wait for Mr. President to let us know his decision. We have submitted our report. If you recall, two weeks ago, we started a process of gradual segmented reduction in the term of the lockdown.
We will hopefully know of the next stage or phase within the next 24 hours. We have made our recommendations, so, we have to wait for his decision tomorrow.
At this point, it is unclear if we are going into the second phase or we might revert to another lockdown. It is immature to predict that certain types of public will be allowed to open, who knows if those places that have been opened previously will be asked to close, so we have to wait until we get the decision of Mr. President. Nothing stops us from stopping phase one and nothing stops us from progressing to phase two.
We take into cognizance the economic effect of locking down and the issues of mortality. Even one death due to COVID 19 is unacceptable if we can prevent it. We are trying to find a balance between saving lives and saving livelihoods” he said.
Speaking on the level of compliance with laid down safety precautions, Aliyu lamented that it is far from being satisfactory.
“What is clear was that observing the safety guidelines like social distancing, wearing of masks has left a lot to be desired and this further underscores the importance of having adequate awareness campaign. People need to be aware of the risks involved to ensure that they have their masks with them when they go out, to ensure that they are not coming into close proximity with one another. This requires a lot of social mobilization which we will be looking at over the next few weeks.
A substantial number of Nigerians have complied, but it is far from being satisfactory and this is what concerns us really. For us to be comfortable with the current situation of things, we need to make sure that Nigerians comply with all the measures that we have spelled out. Of course, it is difficult when you live in a house with 10 to 12 persons, nevertheless, it is our responsibility as a government to make sure that we communicate the risks as it concerns infections and save lives as well.
We are not unaware that no country can be on lockdown forever, the economic implications will be enormous” he added.
Meanwhile, the President has been given a situation report on COVID-19 by Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and chairman of the PTF, on Sunday.
Speaking after the meeting, the SGF said Nigerians must take charge of reducing community transmission of the disease.
He said COVID-19 is a marathon and not a 100-meter race, and that it will take about 18 months for a vaccine to be produced and certified fit for humans.
“COVID-19 is not going to go away in the next one or two months, whoever tells you that is not being realistic. No vaccine is on the horizon, we are talking about 18 months to two years before vaccines would be confirmed for human use as far as COVID-19. And unless we get there, it means is that it will remain,” he said.
It might have cycles, after the first cycle of the pandemic, they might be a relief, there can be a resurgence and that is evidenced all over the world. It has happened before as is the nature of infections. So, I believe that what we are going to do now as a task force is to come down to the level of having the communities take ownership of the response.
We have developed a national response which has been cascaded to the states but the communities must plug into the national response. Where we have primary health care centers all over the country, they can be used as stations of reporting of surveillance within a particular community, of tracing, of tracking so that we can take out those that we suspect have exhibited symptoms or have come in contact with people who have exhibited symptoms for testing and isolation. That way you plug them out of the community and reduce the risk of transmission. That is basically what we are working on” he said
Mustapha also said the president was satisfied that Nigeria, in spite of its poor healthcare system, has made an effort in combating the disease.
“Well, the president expressed his satisfaction that in spite of the difficulties and the fact that as a nation, we lack the capable infrastructure looking at what is happening to the developed world, where countries that have traditionally established health institutions with all the palliatives, with all the privileges, with all the schemes that guide its people have crumbled as a result of COVID-19, we are still standing and doing our best under the circumstances to ensure that we provide the necessary direction,” he said.
“So he expressed his satisfaction with the PTF, the minister of health and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, which are an integral part of the task force and all the multi-sectoral ministries and are involved in this work – the armed forces, the police, the kind of cooperation we have received from them, without them we wouldn’t have recorded the modest successes that we have achieved. So, he expressed his appreciation that has contributed to where we are today” he said.
